Tension in Tibet

Fed up with protests from Tibetan monks, Beijing said today it will step up a campaign of "patriotic education," the AP reports. Beijing will try to force monks to denounce the Dalai Lama and declare their loyalty to China, adding to worries that the current tension over human rights will only worsen as the Summer Olympics approach. More »

Chinese police killed eight protesters and wounded dozens more overnight in Sichuan province when they opened fire on a demonstration led by Tibetan monks, the Times of London reports. The altercation started when police searched a Tibetan monastery, confiscating phones and images of the Dalai Lama. After arresting two, the police demanded all in the monastery denounce the Tibetan spiritual leader. More »

China's media outlets have been getting their information about the recent unrest in Tibet solely from the state-controlled news agency, Xinhua. As a result, most Chinese citizens are buying the government's handling of what has been portrayed as mob violence plotted from abroad—when it's been covered at all, the Christian Science Monitor reports. More »

India enjoys a trade relationship with China, its fellow powerhouse economy, that experts value at around $40 billion this year. But it also hosts the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan government in exile, and about 100,000 Tibetans who live in the country. As tensions in Tibet continue, writes the Washington Post, India is treading a narrow path to please both sides. More »

House speaker Nancy Pelosi calls on President Bush to consider skipping the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics in an interview airing today, ABC reports. Pelosi, a fierce critic of China's human rights record, isn't suggesting an American boycott of the games themselves, but. she says that it was a mistake to have ever awarded the Olympics to China. More »

Protesters against China’s Tibet crackdown shook up today’s Olympic torch hand-off in Athens, the New York Times reports. Some 15 people dodged security to fly banners and shout “Free Tibet” as they tried to block Greek officials from passing the flame to Beijing authorities. Ten were nabbed by police, but it’s not yet clear whether they’ll face charges. More »

Chinese police closed off Tibet's capital today after fresh protests broke out during a tightly-orchestrated visit by diplomats. “The whole area has been shut down,” said one London-based advocacy group. Authorities swarmed Lhasa’s main temples, as monks continued demonstrating and urged Beijing to begin talks with the Dalai Lama. More »

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other top German officials won't be going to the Beijing Olympics, the Guardian reports, joining Polish and Czech leaders who have pledged to stay away. But while Polish PM Donald Tusk and Czech President Vaclav Klaus said they'll be boycotting the opening ceremony to protest human rights abuses in Tibet, the Germans said their absence isn't political. More »

The West must take a stand against China's human-rights abuses by boycotting the Summer Olympics, French philosopher Bernard-Henry Levy insists in the New Republic . Otherwise, athletes will compete in “stadiums stained with blood.” China was supposed to cease its worst behavior, but it’s done the opposite: A pre-Games cleanup has meant expelling the urban poor, demolishing working-class neighborhoods, and jailing even more dissidents. More »

Tibetan monks burst into a carefully choreographed Chinese media event yesterday, breaking the image of restored calm China had hoped to project. China had allowed a small group of foreign reporters into the region, but even as one monk at Lhasa’s Jokhang Temple was expounding on the return to normalcy, 30 younger monks burst in, shouting “We want a free Tibet!” More »

President Bush called Chinese President Hu Jintao today and urged Beijing to begin talks with the Dalai Lama, the BBC reports. Bush also pressed for greater access to Tibet for journalists and diplomats, the White House said. China today allowed a small group of foreign reporters into Lhasa for the first time since protests began, but Tibetan monks  disrupted their tour of a temple with chants of "Tibet is not free," the AP notes. More »

Nicolas Sarkozy says "all options are open" in terms of a possible boycott of the opening ceremonies of Beijing's Olympics. While his aides say that France would oppose a full boycott of the games, the French prez is signaling his discontent with China's recent crackdown in Tibet. "I want a dialogue to start and I will step up my response according to the response given by the Chinese authorities," said Sarkozy. More »

A Chinese policeman has been killed in a confrontation with Tibetan demonstrators in Sichuan, as unrest continues despite Beijing's massive deployment of forces. Several other officers and protesters were wounded in the clash yesterday as activists called for an independent Tibet. But an absence of independent journalists in the area makes it difficult to piece together an accurate account, Reuters reports. More »

A group of prominent Chinese intellectuals is challenging the government over its response to protests in Tibet, accusing Beijing of inciting ethnic tensions and demanding that it begin talks with the Dalai Lama. A petition signed by 29 writers, journalists and scholars, blasts China’s “one-sided propaganda” war and charges it with “fanning racial hatred,” reports the New York Times. More »

China’s government hammered House Speaker Nancy Pelosi today over her meeting with the Dalai Lama and subsequent condemnation of China's "oppression" of Tibetan protests that turned to riots, the AP reports. Xinhua, China’s state news agency, said “human rights police” like Pelosi employed “double standards” unfair to China and didn’t “check their facts.” More »

Beijing is charging that the Dalai Lama incited recent protests in Tibet as part of a "terror" plot to ruin the Olympic games, Reuters reports. "The Dalai Lama is scheming to take the Beijing Olympics hostage to force the Chinese government to make concessions to Tibet independence," writes China's official newspaper. The Dalai Lama has condemned the violence. More »

China retaliated today against the negative press that is flooding out of the Tibet crisis, the AP reports. Beijing released footage of Tibetan demonstrators assaulting Chinese, and blasted Western media such as CNN and Der Spiegel with claims of unfair coverage. Within Tibet, where foreign media is mostly banned, China continues to fill the void with its own version of events. It also increased its official death toll to 22. More »

The newspaper of China’s ruling party has called for a move to “resolutely crush” Tibet’s protests against the government, the AP reports. “We must see through the secessionist forces' evil intentions” and maintain “social stability,” said the People’s Daily . Meanwhile, Beijing has asked people to turn in the “most wanted” protesters. The calls to action continue a government crackdown on Tibetan protests which turned to riots. More »

The Chinese government may ban live footage of Tiananmen Square during the coming Summer Olympics in Beijing, the AP reports. Increasingly concerned about protests,  Chinese Olympic officials this week told broadcasting organizers an earlier agreement on live shots had been canceled. If the decision stands, it would be a blow to networks, especially big spender NBC. More »

The Olympic torch will pass through London on April 6, meeting major protests over China's human-rights abuses in Tibet and other causes. The visit will test how disruptive political forces could be on the Summer Games—and how well British security forces are preparing for the 2012 London Olympics, the Times of London reports. More »